Fading Trails

Hey peeps!

It's winter out. Have you noticed? (If you haven't...you might be on vacation...if that's the case...can I hang out with you?). November seemed like a pretty mild start to our white months up until about two weeks ago when almost all of Alberta went through a period of white-outs and cold, COLD weather. During that time, camp experienced almost 18 inches of snow and -40 degree weather. Yikes! I was out on the roads when the blizzard started and experienced some white-out conditions where I couldn't see the sides of the road or even the road itself. It was very scary when the road would clear ahead of me and I would realize that I was in the on-coming traffic lane. Praise God that I got home safely!

A couple days later, I was out snowshoeing and came across snowshoe tracks from Sabastian and Christoph from the day before. Because of the wind and snow, their tracks were blown over and almost gone. There were points when I couldn't even tell where they had been.

God reminded me in that moment how the things that we may have learned at camp this summer or that He's taught us earlier on so easily fade away because of life's storms. It's one of the things that campers say over and over again during Testimony Sticks - being scared of forgetting or losing the lessons that God has taught us at camp. I smile when I think of what David at Impact referred to as PTCD (Post Traumatic Camp Disorder). What happens when your camp experience and your camp spiritual high starts fading away like those snowshoe tracks that I was following?

How do you make sure that those tracks don't fade away? 

How do you make sure that the lessons that you learned at camp about God and Jesus don't fade away? 

How do you live your faith out at home in a way that helps your faith grow instead of fade?

 

Then I thought of those moments driving home on Sunday when I couldn't see the road and sometimes got disoriented because I didn't have a reference point for the road ahead. Driving doesn't become less dangerous or hard when you have those reference points but it is reassuring when you have the markers along the road to help you or lights that point the way. God gives us those markers in scripture that help us to understand the road and how to drive on it well (Ps. 119:105). Though He never said that it would be safe, God did promise that He would never leave us or forsake us - just as He promised the Isrealites as they entered Canaan in the book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 31:6). The important thing is to study Scripture and spend time in it so that you understand the road and know how to recognize those reference points (Ps. 119:11). When I was driving on Sunday, I turned my music off and spent my time praying - not because I felt that I was going to die (think Dash in the Incredibles when he hits the water) but because I needed guidance, I needed help to make wise decisions. Doesn't that sound like our everyday walk with Jesus?

How has your "drive" been lately? 

Have you had white-out conditions where you don't know where the road is? Do you have reference points?

Have you felt alone on the road? In your faith walk?

When was the last time you turned off the noise of your life and asked God for guidance?

As Summer 2013 fades in our memory, I hope and pray that all of our staff and campers remember that God is with us on every road of life, and that His word gives us the reference points we need to travel the road of life well. As 2014 approaches and new roads lie ahead "let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2a).

Much love, Jogee (pronounced, Yogi)